a lovely wedding weekend

Have you ever had an experience that you couldn't talk about for a little bit because it was simply so wonderful? That was my weekend last week. It was such a treasured time that I needed time to digest it and treasure it in my heart before I was even ready to talk about it. It was a miracle weekend for me. My energy held more consistently then it has in over a year and for each moment the Lord provided exactly the energy I needed. I was surrounded by friends that are like family and while I am more tired than ever before, I still am smiling as I write this post. 

I want to say a humble and grateful thank you to the Visy family for the extravagant gift of my plane ticket that made this trip possible, the Minite family for opening your home to me and treating me as a special member of the family, Kaara & Richard for picking me up on Thursday and for your generous monetary gift to offset any additional costs that occurred, Carina, Katharine, Tricia & Kaara for a wonderful long evening full of laughter and fun on Thursday evening, Katharine, for our precious talks and driving me all over Maryland throughout the weekend and then to the airport on Sunday evening, for Carina for lunch on Saturday, and for countless others for your extravagant love. 

I read once that someone said "you can never go home again". Thank God that is not true of the WCA community for "going home" is like returning to a piece of your heart. What a precious community.

Like, I said the whole weekend was a miracle and a gift. My parents drove me to the Albany airport and with only a short delay my flight left and was very uneventful {umm... except for the pilot having a rough landing and saying "sorry about that"?hmmm...}.

Kaara, as I mentioned above, was so sweet to pick me up and it was such a wonderful time to catch up with her. We went to Silver Spring {which has changed so much!} and grabbed a light dinner before meeting up with the ladies! Despite the traffic (which I have sweetly forgotten about in life *smiles*) it was such a lovely time. Thank you again Kaara for coming to pick me up and for such a sweet time of talking and catching up!

After dinner we caught up with Tricia, Carina, and Katharine and we had the best time talking and catching up on life. We laughed so hard that there were tears. It was the best type of conversation. And I sat there wondering: How has it been four years? Much too long to not see dear friends. We must have our next reunion sooner. 

Because we were out so late on Thursday evening we slept in late on Friday and then Katharine took me to the Bridal luncheon. It was SO good to see the bride and it was delightful to meet all of Kristen's friends and family that I did not know! 

After lunch Carina picked me up and we were able to catch up before the Rehearsal and the Rehearsal dinner. {Sunshine, how did I not get a picture of that?}Carina dropped me back at Katharine's and I had a quick moment to change before Katharine was sweet enough to brave the traffic to take me to the rehearsal. 

Honestly, the rehearsal was one of the best that I had ever been to and it was lovely to laugh and meet so many of Kristen's and Paul's families. {By the way- isn't Kristen's rehearsal dress so beautiful? Love it!}

After the rehearsal we headed over to the rehearsal dinner. Because of the traffic it took us about an hour to get there which gave me a chance to close my eyes and rest. I admit that I was very tired by this point and SO appreciate all of your prayers for me for the weekend!! 

At the rehearsal dinner (which was very beautiful) it was lovely to get to know a new friend (and one of Kristen's bridesmaids) Ashlan and get to talk with different members of the families and wedding party. Some of the toasts were so precious and the toasts from the men in Kristen's life were extremely special. {How crazy is it that I coached Kristen, had Michael on SGA, and taught Scott? WOW!}

Kristen and Paul blessed me with a beautiful gift that truly touched my heart and was an answer to prayer. Thank you both so much!

On Saturday morning Katharine and I laughed and had a wonderful time talking and catching up. Somehow though time got away from us and we were flying around the house getting ready for the wedding that at one point seemed "far off". *smiles* 

We were there with plenty of time to share and had the chance to snap some pictures before the wedding started! Beautiful- I love you!!

Alex- I am soo happy that I had a chance to spend some time with you this weekend!! 

The ceremony was beautiful and extremely precious. {Sorry that most of these pictures are blurry- I cried throughout most of the ceremony!}

Have you ever seen a set of parents so excited for their daughter? 

After the beautiful ceremony we headed to the fun and gorgeous outdoor cocktail reception. It was such a lovely time!

Dear sweet ladies, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to talk with you throughout the evening. My heart is SO proud of each one of you and honored to know you all !

The newlyweds arrive! 

After the cocktail hour outside we moved into the reception inside and had a lovely dinner and a ton of fun dancing with a WONDERFUL band!

Molly, it was a treasure to meet you!! 

Oh sweet ladies, how my heart has missed you!! 

John put his face in the background of the following picture so we had to take another one with just the girls *smiles*

You know when you just meet some people and you instantly admire them? That is these two girls. You are lovely! 

Fun with the photobooth props! I won't even begin to share what Kaara said! hahaha

Love you sweet Kristen! Congrats to you and Paul!! {Isn't her dress GORGEOUS?!?}

Oh WCA family, how I have missed "the dances"!!  Such FUN!

 It's hard to convey such a WONDERFUL and fantastic event in just a few simple paragraphs and pictures. Thank you so much to everyone that made it such a WONDERFUL weekend!